Archive for the ‘Miscellany’ Category

I’m doing a much needed cleanup on this here Website. I’m updating the links page, FINALLY. Refreshing the header and going back to my original one, I really didn’t like the painted lady Victorian all that much. Hang in there while I get things pretty.

Its been a minute, that is for sure. I noticed that its been since late March that I posted last. I was still waiting on my container of household goods and car to arrive. It did! Heh! I actually received my stuff on April 1st, the car included. Things were unpacked and put in their places. Settling in to the rental house has come and gone. I had applied for an IT job with a local company at the end of March and I am STILL waiting to hear back. Yes, I have called to make sure they didn’t ‘forget’ to let me know I was hired, ::: snort :::

West Coast Haunters Con has come and gone. I did not have the booth that I intended to have. I had to cancel due to not having my belongings (read: craft supplies) to be able to make inventory. I decided it needs to wait until next year. So next year it is!
We are toying with the idea of having a temporary booth in a local vendor mall for the month of October. Possibly September and October. That is what I’m planning on for now and yes I have made a couple of things. Need to get on it though and start cranking out more stuff.

I bought a new car! I got a 2016 Ford Explorer Sport in all black. It has all the bells and whistles, minus a few un-needed whistles. If you click on The Adventures of Monster in the lower right link on the page, you will be able to see photos.

I bought and just setup today, a new standing desk for home. My back can’t do many of the office chairs, so sitting at a computer for long periods just doesn’t happen. Part of the reason I haven’t been blogging like I used to. That should change now that I can do it without whimpering or hobbling away. Yay!!! Plus, I’m not working so I have the time…ahem!

I also bought a new computer and it should arrive next week. I can get back on making the digital wallpaper for The Whimsy Attic and get the website created.

We arrived in St. Helens Oregon on March 3rd. Since we didn’t have a rental yet we stayed at the local Best Western. We were able to rent a house, and we (we means Ruffio and I, heh) signed the rental agreement on the 12th. Moved everything over from the hotel on the 16th. I waited due to the mattress I purchased wasn’t delivered until the 15th.

The container with all of my household belongings, and the car, should be here this next week. It will start to feel more homey once that gets here. We are sitting on borrowed folding chairs and a table, heh! I did purchase a couch, since I donated mine before I left, but that will be 5 weeks before it gets here. It is taking so long because I special ordered it in a leather ‘like’ material instead of the fabric.

Moving day has approached. Tomorrow is the day for the movers to start packing everything up. Ruffio goes to boarding tonight, then there is a long list of To-Do’s for tonight, before the movers arrive bright and early tomorrow.
There is a LOT of ‘this before this’ on the list and my brain is swimming! I also have to make sure that I keep the pile of stuff that needs to go in my luggage, away from the movers. Since I don’t fly out until March 3rd, my last day of work is still March 1st, I will be staying in a hotel starting Friday night. I will also have to pickup the rental car tomorrow at some point.

Although I’m forgetting to breath at times, I’m still excited with a dash of nervous!

To get everyone up to date, the dream of moving out of Alaska is soon approaching. The house was put on the market on January 8th and I accepted an offer on January 15th. We had a couple of up and downs with the buyer, after the inspection, but we came to a new price agreement and were back on track within a couple of days. The take Possession date is February 25th, if all goes well. We had the Appraisal a couple of days ago and now we wait until it has been filed with the bank, along with the As-Built, so that loan can move forward.

My plan is to find a house in St. Helens, Oregon, or possibly Scappoose, Oregon, but I will first rent until I find what I’m looking for. I have had the movers come and give me a quote for moving everything along with the car. Have ordered a kennel and ex-pen for Ruffio and had them shipped down to friends in St. Helens for when we get there.
I still have to plan out what I’m taking with me in my four suitcases, which I know the majority of it but need to list out the crafting supplies that need to be with me.

Crafting supplies are another story. I have purchased a booth at the West Coast Haunters Convention, which is the end of April, and am in the process of building up an inventory for selling there. I had only two pieces of inventory when I purchased the booth, due to donating stuff at work for an annual charity event. Taking my sculpting tools with me, in checked baggage, is the plan but I worry about lost luggage. Its difficult to replace tools you have accumulated over the years, so it’s another stressor.

My last day of work is March 1st and I plan on flying out March 2nd. So many things to plan out and pray that the proverbial wrench doesn’t get thrown in the mix.

So excitement and forgetting to breath are taking place in the Spooky household. New adventures are soon to be afoot…

I didn’t come and check in on Halloween, bad Kimbooly, I know. I actually locked myself in the craft room for 10 hours or so. More on that in a minute. Since it has been since July that I last posted anything, time for some catching up…

I had originally planned on moving to Washington by the first week of October and renting until I found something in St. Helens, Oregon. My house was going on the market the end of August and so on. August came and we (my brother and I) found out that Fama’s Will would need to go through Probate to get a clear Title for both houses, before they can be sold. Awesome…not. Probate takes four months, better than the other option which was waiting a year. The Probate four month duration will end January 20th. I spoke with the Realtor I plan on using, and she thinks the end of November is a good time to put the house on the market, especially since closing takes 45 days or so.
The main reason I was going to rent in Washington was so that I could look for a house and be able to cash out some of my 401(b) if needed. The taxes are much higher in Oregon with Income Tax. Since it will be after the first of the year, I now plan on cashing it out BEFORE I leave Alaska and having the money that I need to move with. This does change my plans a bit in regards to working until the very end, I was doing it so that I would have 30 days of Health Insurance, but something has to give somewhere in the plan.
Now the plan is leaving by the first week of February, or there about. I still need to find a house down there…ugh. So much to do!

Now the other news. I have been going on and on about how I need to build up inventory and start an Etsy store, selling off the website, whatever. I pissed away a crap ton of time. So, I called myself out on it and bought a booth at the West Coast Haunters Convention 2016! It is the last weekend in April, so I am building up inventory and why I locked myself in The Skullery for the weekend. Matter of fact, every weekend will be spent there. My original plan was to move down to Oregon and start creating right away from the PNW for the show, slight plan change. I thought about canceling the booth, but NO, I have to stop with the excuses and just do it. Besides, the creating is therapeutic and helping me cope through after Halloween depressions.

I will be posting WIPS here and there of the WCHC inventory. The other thing on the schedule is to get The Whimsy Attic website up and running so I can get business cards done. I’m struggling with it, and have changed the Victorian Damask wallpaper I’m creating…numerous times!

Not even a week after getting back from Portland/Vancouver, I have bought my plane ticket, reserved the hotel and car rental and purchased ticket to go back to attend the West Coast Haunters Con, in Portland for May 15-17!! This will be my third year in a row going and I’m over the moon excited to see everyone again and to finally meet my Good Twin, Dawn Nickols and my Brother in Law, Jaybo!! Long story on the actual none family relation, heh.

I’m seriously thinking about getting a booth, yes I tend to do things on short notice, and sell some of my art. Either that or making stuff before I go to sell to help pay for the trip. If I make stuff for a booth at the Con, I will need to send it down to someone before hand and then arrange for anything that doesn’t sell to be shipped back. I would much rather be living down there before I have a booth, so that I can decorate it, etc. OH DECISIONS!!!!

I’m back from my trip to Vancouver/Portland. We drove around and got a better idea of what area’s I will rent in. As for buying a house, I’m liking the Columbia County region, especially the Scappoose and St. Helens area’s.
I got to tour the Michael Curry Design studio and talk about a dream job!! Yes I have talked about Laika before but Michael Curry Design felt like home. It all seemed so familiar. Not holding my breath in any way, but I will cross everything I have that I somehow get to work with them.
We had the best day ever getting to spend the day with Colleen and Byron Ohler. They drove us around Scappoose, St. Helens, and all the way up to Astoria. I saw the Goonies house, from a distance, they had the road blocked off and I didn’t feel like climbing the hill to just take a picture. We went down to the beach where the Peter Iredale is located, you can get the info on the ship here. I could not believe how fresh the ocean smelled!! I have been to the Atlantic and Pacific in California and the smell is so much cleaner in PNW compared. No fishy smell!
Here is a photo I took of Monster on the Beach with the Peter Iredale in the background:

To catch back up… I only completed the Ghosts from A Christmas Carol but did not get Scrooge and Marley started. The display went off well anyway. Christmas came and went, as well as my Birthday, which is New Years. I’m slowly edging towards that big 50 number.

I’ve been once again struggling with the creating. I get these outstanding ideas in my head and fear of failure keeps me from The Skullery. Each time this happens I move past it faster and faster, so I’m starting to learn to deal with it and move on. I think…LOL!

One of the hurdles that I’m constantly tripping over is finding my niche. Not my genre, my niche. All the successful artists seem to have one. Unless I’m seeing this all wrong. I fight between creating what my heart sings for and makes my soul happy, and what I think people want to see and/or buy. As suggested by a good friend: create because it makes me happy and if people don’t buy it, I will be surrounded by a house full of happy that I created. 🙂 If I would stop over thinking things, I would have seen that…DOH!

Creating I will go, creating I will go, high ho the merry oh, the creating I will go!!

Today is the day of the Little Angels, a day to honor deceased children.

My children that I have lost have been of the four legged furry nature. I have wanted for many years to build them an alter for the celebration, adding their favorite treats and toys, but have never done so. Instead I will honor them by making an electronic version today. Their may not be treats and toys involved but I will do my best to include stories of each.

I will try to put them in order of adoption. They were all rescue’s in some form or another. I typically gave AKC names to my dogs, not because they were AKC dogs, more because it gave me free reign to give them really long names, heh!:

Shade was my first dog as an adult. Shade was purchased from a friend of my husbands, when she was three weeks old. This friend had taken two puppies and the Momma dog away from his Sister due to the Sister being a drug addict and not taking care of the Momma dog, which in turn had stopped feeding the puppies. I only agree to pay for her to get her out of the situation.
Shade fit in the cup of my hand and only grew to be 3 1/2 pounds as an adult.
She was the first to pass, going due to congestive heart failure at 13 yrs.

Smokey was adopted at roughly a year of age. Quirky story behind getting Smokey…my husband and I had stopped by a local pet store in the mall, which we did regularly to just ‘look’ at the puppies. One afternoon we were in the store staring at this adorable 8 week old Pomeranian puppy that was staring back at us while she chewed on the bars. We were discussing buy her just because she was so cute, but couldn’t afford the $800 they were asking for her. We fell in love with her but had to walk away. The next day my Mom calls me and tells me that they had broken down and bought my brother a Pomeranian. He had fallen for Shade and wanted a little bundle of fur himself. I asked where they got it and she stated from the Mall. I perked up and said, was it a little cream colored female that was 8 weeks old? She said it was and I squealed, telling her that we had seen her the day before and fell in love with her.
To shorten the story, they kept Smokey for about a year and decided to let us adopt her due to her and their German Shepherd not getting along. She was finally ours.
Smokey passed due to complications of Cushings Disease at the age of 14yrs.

Quest was adopted from a local breeder. The breeder had purchased her from a puppy mill breeder in the states for $1500. The local breeder ‘purchased’ her to get her out of the situation she was in and because she wanted to start breeding Chinese Cresteds. Quest had one pregnancy and the puppy was severally Hydrocephalic and died a few weeks after birth. The breeder had Quest spayed due to the potential of having more birth defects. I spoke to this breeder often due to the fact that she frequented our Vet Clinic with the puppies and adult pregnant dogs she had. I mentioned to her that I was looking for a Chinese Crested that I could adopt and she told me about Quest. I adopted Quest within a few days of hearing about her. Quest had many behavioral problems due to coming from a puppy mill. She was caged from birth, before the local breeder bought her, which wasn’t long, due to her being a year and half when I adopted her.
Quest passed due to Liver Cancer at the age of 11yrs.

Whisper was bought sight unseen from Ohio. I always wanted to have four dogs total and really wanted another Crested. I started searching the internet for another hairless and how I came upon Whisper I don’t even remember. The odd thing was, I had planned to name a dog Whisper before I even found her and then there she was. I purchased her for $150 without even meeting her. She was a ‘pet quality’ 11 month old, that also had some behavioral problems. She was the only other dog that I truly set out to buy and not truly rescue.
Whisper passed of Liver Cancer at the age of 13yrs.

Ashley was adopted at an unknown age and was also a 3 1/2 pound adult. She was adopted with one other dog, Grizzley. The story behind Ashley was that she was living with the human owner of Shade’s dad, along with two other dogs. The other two that I also came to adopt where Shade’s brother Grizzley and Shade’s dad Gizmo, Ashley was unrelated. The trio of dogs fell on hard times when the humans that owned them split up. They suddenly found themselves in an abandoned apartment, not being taken care of or fed properly. The quirky thing about this story was that no more than a week previously I had a premonition about the dogs. I told my husband that if for some reason those dogs need a home we will be taking them in and he adamantly agreed. We were sitting in a restaurant having lunch a few days later and a friend that knew the human couple stated that they had split up and the dogs were living at the apartment by themselves. He said there was mention of the dogs going to the pound. The next day I looked up the phone number of the female, I told her that I had run into so n’ so and he told me the dogs were going to the pound. She started crying saying she didn’t know what she was going to do. I stopped her and said, ‘Your bringing the dogs to me’. She had already given Gizmo to someone else but he wasn’t doing well health wise. I told her to bring me Grizzley and Ashley ASAP and to tell the person she gave Gizmo to that if she couldn’t keep him or pay for his medical bills, she was to bring him to me. The dogs were brought in, I worked at a Vet clinic at the time, covered in matted fur and feces, Ashley had urine burns and could barely walk because the hair had been matted so badly to her backend and legs. The story goes on to their rehab and I did end up with Gizmo as well.
Ashley passed of congestive heart failure at roughly at 14yrs. She was the first dog I performed CPR on, I was successful until we got her to PET Emergency and ended up putting her down due to her condition.

Grizzley was adopted with Ashley and you can read how he was adopted in her story. Grizzley has more of a story though. He was actually supposed to be my first Pomeranian. The people that had Shade had a litter previously and Grizzley was the only one in the litter. The girlfriend of the human that had the Dad dog, trumped me on getting him. Grizzley had a bit of a drinking problem. When he was with the previous owners he would frequently steal sips of their alcoholic drinks that they had sitting on the floor. He quickly became addicted to them and would sit and stare at you if you didn’t give him any, occasionally growling. Since I am not a drinker, that behavior wasn’t a problem.
Grizzley passed at 16yrs due to Lung Cancer.

Name: Gizmo
Full name: Gizmo
Nickname: GizzyBreed: Pomeranian

Gizmo was the father of Shade and Grizzley. His adoption story can be read in Ashley’s story. When he finally came to me he was severally depressed. He had been separated from the dog family that he had known since he was one year old. He wasn’t eating and drinking very little. The lady that had adopted him surrendered him to me because she couldn’t afford to take him to the Vet to get him checked out. The day that she brought him to me I was working at the Vet clinic. I happened to have Grizzley and Ashley with me that day to have their dental’s done. When Gizmo first saw me he instantly perked up, he knew me since he was a puppy, but when I took him to the back to put him in with Grizzley and Ashley he turned into a different dog. He was so happy he was yip whining and licking all over them. The only thing wrong with him was he needed a dental and to be reunited with his family.
Gizmo died shortly after Shade, he never came out of his depression from her dying. He was 14yrs old.

Bear was adopted from a friend that fell on hard times, Bear was roughly 8 yrs old. I received a call one day from a friend, he asked if I still rescued Pomeranian’s, I told him I did but wasn’t looking for another dog at the time. Something told me to check it out anyway. He and his girlfriend and children had been evicted and was living with his parents. Bear was living in the garage. I had him bring Bear to me. At first I was thinking I would take him in to find him a home, the decision to keep him was quick in the coming.
Bear was put to sleep due to a condition called FCE or Fibrocartilaginous Embolism, it’s also known as a Spinal Stroke. There is no known reason why they happen, he had no injury to cause it. He was almost 14 yrs old.

His story was this: Wicket was rescued by the Police Dept. and Animal Control on January 12th 2012. He and 38 other dogs were found to be living in disgusting conditions. The floors were covered in feces, urine and yuck and there were cages everywhere filled with dogs. The cages were also filled with feces, urine and yuck. The dogs were covered in sores, matted fur, infection and they were also malnourished. The ‘men’ that did this were Dog Show fanatics that were hoarding and attempting to be a puppy mill.

I saw Wicket on the Polar Pug Rescue and Friends website in March 2012. I had just lost my Whisper to cancer and still had my Bear, with his own health issue. I watched Bear to see how he was doing being an only dog. I didn’t want to go on impulse, even though I was totally taken by Wickets picture, and instead wanted to make sure that Bear would be ok with getting another dog. I thought about Wicket almost everyday until I could take it no longer. I put in my application for him, I believe near the end of March and heard back rather quickly from Vickie Young of PPRaF. I went to meet him… I was done, I wanted to run out the door with the little guy in my arms! He had me wrapped around his little stubby tail from first muzzle nudge. I believe that was a Friday and I had the little guy at my home by Monday. I was and still am, inside out in love with that little man. I have never had such a strong connection with any of my dogs. I don’t want to make them sound less loved, no…not what I mean. Wicket and I connected, he read me, I read him…he was my puppy soul mate.

Wicket was put to sleep Oct. 20,2013 due to a suspected brain tumor. We guess his age to be 8 years’ish. He was only with me a year and a half and he changed my heart for the better, not loosing him, but being able to love the little Sexy Face and have his unconditional love in return.

I miss you all very much and carry you in my heart everyday. You were all awesome little Rock Star’s. Mama kisses…